To study the performance of a magnetic amplifier

Abstract

The saturable core reactor is a predecessor of the magnetic amplifier, a technology first reported in the early 1900s that found most of its uses in radio and television applications. Various researchers, mostly in Canada, America and Germany made major contributions to almost half a century in developing different applications inco1pornting the use of a magnetic amplifier. The magnetic amplifier is today considered an old and lost technology since most of its applications and advantage got replaced and superseded by the introduction of semiconductor devices as early as the 1950s. Documentation and information about its working principles and characteristics to different applications is almost inaccessible or very limited considering the period it was published, the WWI WWII era. This is where it found its major electrical applications within the military. This is practically, the main reason of such unpublished restricted material. The objective of this project is to demonstrate and document the characteristics or the main components of a magnetic amplifier and Iay foundations to the possibility of further additional research associated to it. The project was tackled from basics since no direct approach could be found as to how to build or what approach to take to set up even the basic working model of a magnetic amplifier, that is, a device that could amplify a given input signal within its operational parameters. Principles of magnetism and electromagnetic induction were revised and reported with the objective of developing a deeper insight of the principles of operation of the magnetic amplifier. Design was not possible and thus off-the-shelf equipment had to be purchased and tested one by one, in different circuit configurations and parameters, for the first indicative results. This involved EI type transformers of various (below 1 OOV A) ratings and resistive loads. The magnetic amplifier set up was primarily focused to target a common application that may still be found in industry today. This is the power regulation of highly resistive loads such as stage and theatre lighting control. Of course, this project was based on a much smaller power scale than the one that would be required in practice/ industry. A working model of a lighting control magnetic amplifier was achieved under different circuit configurations and a respective experimental study was reported.